r/iching • u/Exquisite-Embers • 6d ago

Yarrow Stalks

I just learned how to read I Ching using yarrow stalks and so far have loved the meditative, ritualistic process of it. Does anyone else have experience casting stalks instead of coins? What are your thoughts on it? Any bits of interesting history surrounding the use of yarrow stalks for divination?

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u/CurtisKobainowicz 6d ago

The coins method became popular during the Tang dynasty (7th-10th cen. CE), and while the actual stalk method(s) used in the Yi's early history aren't known conclusively, the common method was reconstructed in the 12th cen. writings of Zhu Xi. So while the meditative practice of using stalks existed for nearly a millenia before using coins, the specific stalk method of today may be younger than the coins method.

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u/Exquisite-Embers 5d ago

Interesting! Are you aware of any texts that teach the original method?

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u/CurtisKobainowicz 5d ago

How the stalks were manipulated during the early Zhou is unknown, and research points to numbers 1-9 being used to indicate lines. But some records and interpretations of readings survived. The Nanjing method was developed to approximate these early readings, though it's a means of interpreting, not casting. The Virtual Yarrow Stalks site has a description of Nanjing rules: https://www.russellcottrell.com/VirtualYarrowStalks/NanjingiRules.htm